Grandma Henke

As we drove towards Grayland today I was thinking the Kite Festival was going to be impossible because of the fog/mist that has come in from the ocean the past few days.   I expected to see a meager showing of kites.    Boy was I wrong!   What an awesome day for a Kite Festival!     Notice how the kites seem to fade into the fog?   If you walk in that direction you run just open up the view to a whole bunch more.   It’s spectacular!          

The kites were bright and beautiful, floating eerily in the mist.   The pictures don’t do it justice because you can’t see very far at once.   You have to move down the beach to get the full effect.   The cars were stretched out a couple of miles on the wet sand and driving on it is a cool experience all of its own.   The huge kites have to be staked out and tied to heavy trucks.   They are much bigger than they look in these pictures.    My guess is that some of the flat looking ones below are at least 30 foot kites. There are some pretty intent kite fliers who have invested thousands of dollars into their hobby and travel all over to attend the festivals.     Their kites are awesome and leave you spell bound as they hover quietly over you.      

                                                 My favorite was the kite dancing and we were lucky enough to get our car right in front of where they performed.    It takes a lot of control to get those kites to skip and flutter and flip like they do to lively music over the loud speakers.      The kite below is sitting patiently waiting for its cue.  I think this particular type of kite is controlled by 4 strings held by one person who steps back and forth pushing and pulling and twisting their hands and arms to the music.   These can cost from $200 to $500.                                    I’m sooo glad we went!    There is still one more day of the festival so maybe after church tomorrow we’ll have to go by it again.